Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 10 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD 
Hi there, Yuu Miyazaki here. 
With this tenth volume, The Asterisk War has finally reached double digits! I’ve got lots of announcements to share with you, but I want to keep the afterword to two pages this time, so I’ll be brief! 
To begin, with this volume, the second arc of the story, which focused on the Gryps, is complete. It’s fully loaded with two full-team battles and probably has the largest cast of any volume so far. The team battles may be over now, but everyone we’ve come to know from Team Yellow Dragon and Team Lancelot still have roles to play, so their fans can rest easy! Incidentally, my favorite part of writing this one had to be Xinglou’s and Xiaohui’s backstory. 
The eleventh volume will be an episode between acts, so to speak, focusing largely on Kirin. She played an active role this time around, but I can’t deny that what happened to her was pretty unfortunate, and I want to make it up to her. Also, I kind of interrupted her scene in the epilogue, along with Ayato’s, too—basically, we can expect to hear more from both of them in the next volume! 
Now, I know it’s late, but the Japanese edition of the eighth volume is going through a reprint. I announced this on Twitter, but it turned out that a certain match was cut from the first edition, which led to some misunderstandings and also made the schedule of the tournament and the total number of matches a little disorienting. This has been fixed for the second edition. My sincerest apologies for the confusion. 
Okiura’s beautiful illustrations are once again something to behold! A lot of my favorite characters appear in this one, so if you haven’t taken a look yet, I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do! 

Also, don’t forget about Ningen’s manga adaptation of The Asterisk War in Comic Alive and Akane Shou’s manga adaptation of The Asterisk War: The Wings of Queenvale in Bessatsu Sh?nen magazine! I can’t recommend them enough! 
And the anime! The first season finished airing last fall, with the second one beginning in the spring, so please be sure to watch it! On top of that, I’m so overjoyed by the positive review of the video game The Asterisk War: Phoenix Festa, which came out in March. There’s all kinds of merchandise being produced to go along with them, so do take a look! 
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who helped bring this volume to life. 
Once again, I’d like to express my sincerest gratitude to my editor, Mr. I, for standing by me no matter all the difficulties I throw his way. The same goes for Mr. S and everyone else in the editorial department, along with everyone involved in the anime and games, and as always, to you, my readers, I’d like to express my deepest thanks for your continued support. 
I’m looking forward to seeing you all next time! 
Yuu Miyazaki 
February 2016